Musculoskeletal injury epidemiology in law enforcement and firefighter recruits during physical training: a systematic review.

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Report the injury epidemiology
of law enforcement and firefighter recruits.

Design: A
systematic epidemiological
review following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines was completed.

Data Sources: Five online databases were searched from database
inception to 5th May 2021.

Eligibility criteria for selecting
studies: Prospective and retrospective studies that reported data on
musculoskeletal injuries sustained by law enforcement or firefighter recruits
were included. We reported on all components of injury where data
were available. All injury incidence rates were calculated as per 1000 training
days (Poisson 95% CI) to allow comparisons between studies. Study quality was
assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Quality Assessment Checklist for
Prevalence Studies.

Results: No studies reporting firefighter recruits were
identified. Eight published studies that reported on injuries to law
enforcement recruits were identified. The studies were all low quality, and the
credibility of the evidence was assessed as very low. Seven studies reported
medical attention injuries, and one study reported the number of medical
withdrawals from a recruit training program. The prevalence of law enforcement
recruits with medical attention injuries ranged from 13.7 to 24.5%. The overall
medical attention injury incidence rate for law enforcement recruits ranged
from 1.67 injuries per 1000 training days (Poisson 95%CI 1.00-2.34 injuries per
1000 training days) to 4.24 injuries per 1000 training days (Poisson 95%CI
2.97-5.51 injuries per 1000 training days).

Conclusion: This review reported the prevalence and incidence
rates for musculoskeletal injuries in law enforcement officers. However, the
credibility of the evidence is very low.